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Can Security Clearances Be Affected By A DUI?

Absolutely, especially in regards to government security clearances. People who have clearances, but get a DUI conviction, end up in a situation where those things might make them likely to lose their rank or lose their jobs. Employers generally do not want employees who are in very powerful or delicate jobs to have DUI convictions because it could compromise things and eventually lead to additional problems.

Some people contract with different companies, and nowadays those companies do background checks on everyone they deal with. A DUI conviction might come back and bite the person if they were trying to work on multi-million or billion dollar deals. This is why the company might not want to work with someone who had a DUI or two, and they might just turn the person away.

This might not be an issue if the company liked the person and the person had the credentials and they were trustworthy. However, unfortunately, most employers just see any little blips as a reason to not do business with someone.

A DUI Conviction Can Affect Licensed Professionals Or People Who Have To Report To A Board

Most of the cases I represent involve doctors and nurses. When they get a DUI, they need representation in front of the licensing board which is usually in Sacramento, California.

There may be hearings in front of those boards, especially for nurses more often than doctors. Nurses have access to medications especially when they are not in the hospital setting, and when they are doing home care and no one is supervising them. Nurses can even come under heavy scrutiny from the nursing boards.

What basically happens is that the professional would get a letter from the board once the board finds out they had a DUI arrest or a conviction. The professional would have 30 days from the date of conviction during which they would have to contact the board.

They would usually end up with some type of a probation which could also mean a loss of license for a period of time. A lot of it would depend on the history of the person and what kind of setting they are in. For example, a hospital would be better because there would be more supervision than there would be during in-home care.

Nurses are often made to do an outpatient program or attend some type of meetings. The boards usually want to see the person had attended a continuous program for about 6 months. They are very strict and take DUIs very seriously.

The same thing could happen to doctors, which is why it would be very important for someone who does have a professional license that is at risk with the DUI, to just get in touch with an attorney who handles these kinds of matters and who really knows what they are doing.

A DUI Could Affect Your Immigration And Visa Process

This happens quite often in Silicon Valley because there are a lot of foreign workers here on work visas, so a DUI conviction could create problems when they needed to renew.

Also, someone who was trying to get a green card or who wanted to become a citizen, but they were still on probation for a DUI, would need to wait it out. In the meantime it would also be very important for them to talk with an immigration attorney before making any decisions in regards to their criminal case or their DUI case.

For more information on DUI consequences For Professionals & Immigration, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (415) 523-7878 today.